james2266

Hey bud, I am kind of in your same boat. I too have Infinity all around in my car. They are the top of the line Kappas however but I am still not 100% on them. Everytime I turn them up they make me want to jump out of the car - too tinny! I am running them off of a Kenwood DDX814 tho and I thought that was it but from demoing some other speakers (albeit rather expensive speakers around here) I think they might be the issue. I have been really looking hard at a set of Hertz speakers the High Energy series to be precise. They are just ssssoooooo smooth sounding and they produce a ton of mid-bass

Hey Kidd, You said you had the 9140 and now have the Z110BT. Can you compare your findings on the two units for us all? Did you have them both hooked up to the same speakers? Did you have an amped system too on both of the units. I am curious what you mean by the sound is way better on the Z110BT. How is it better? Does it have better bass response? Is it cleaner? Is it warmer? Were there aspects of the Kenwood sonically that the Pioneer doesn't do as well? More info would be great because as of now I would be surprised if I don't end up with one of these two units unless I can hold out long e

Good to hear. I am still hoping to compare these two units head to head hooked up to the same equipment and soon. I hope I can do that this weekend or maybe even tomorrow. I will report on my findings after I do that.

They don't ship into Canada tho. As usual - huge bummer!!

If this is your only concern with the Eclipse you can probably do the same with your SWI with your Eclipse. I don't think moving to the Pioneer will cure this issue without the SWI. Getting a SWI for your Eclipse would be WAY more cost effective (if that is your only concern).

My bet is that it drops and big but it will take time. Look at the Kenwood 9140 for instance. It's retail was around $2k when it first came out about 4 months before this Pioneer. It can be had for around $1300 + shipping now if you look around. It might take until next summer when the new models start coming out again tho. Maybe around Christmas too tho - all depends on how this units sells to the public would be my guess. Of course this is all speculation now.

You are not the first to tell me that. I was really hoping this Kenwood 814 would be equivalent with the 13 band eq and DTA. My installer actually says the 800 series PRS is the best deck he's ever heard! I just wish some manufacturer would put that technology into a DVD deck (doesn't even have to be a nav system either IMO although it would be nice) with the Ipod functionality and Bluetooth that the Z110BT has. Some year they might get with the program.

Yes, the remote is a factor for me too. I am really thinking about velcroing it to the center column too like you did. I don't really use it much at all right now but I have been told that on the coldest of winter days (and it gets cold up here...) it can actually save your touch screen. A couple of installers have said that is usually when they fail. If you use the remote tho you aren't touching the screen and therefore you won't fry the thing because of touch in icy cold weather. What kind of speakers you got in that thing anyways? I am trying to get a read on what speaker brands sound good

It was also cool performing the THX tests that come with that dvd. The 20-20k Hz sweep test was pretty cool and it actually did alot better than I thought it would. I will have to re-run it now that I have turned down my sub. Man, was I ever getting some serious rumble out of that thing there. I haven't even touched the eq for any of the speakers yet. I might play with that or just pay to have the RTA re-done on it at my installer. Get him to do both front and back this time... Just wish this Kenwood had some more control on the sub (eq wise). This is one thing the Pioneer just can't match. 1

Hmm... you've got me thinking a little on that too. Your interior layout is remarkably similar to my Camry SE actually. I might look into some velcro and do similar to your setup. I haven't played with my remote too much but it is very useful for dvd. I actually can't figure out dvd navigation without it. I actually reset up my system today with my copy of Star Wars 3. I had my sub WAY too loud I found. I moved it back down to 0 from 5. I had to change the crossover for that up to 100 Hz too and it sounds alot more normal now. Man, one could spend 6 months getting this thing just right sound w

The Pioneer cost you $450 more than the Kenwood?!?! I thought the retail on the 9140 was like $2k or better and the Pioneer was around $1600. I know that there are a lot more deals to be found on the 9140 now than the new Z110BT tho. All of my research is looking like they are about the same cost actually now. I also think that if I give the Pioneer a few months that its price will follow suit and start being discounted too. You are right on the Bluetooth, there are a few menus to navigate through to call someone from the unit - even using voice control. The voice control on the kenwood will o

To be honest, at this moment the Kenwood 9140. I just feel there is so much more audio control and i think more power will fix my bass situation. The big factor here is that I already have a PAC SWI Jack too and the installation should be alot easier as the bluetooth mic from my 814 is probably the same so no need to rewire that either. In the end, I am going to need to look at that Z110BT a little more. It doesn't really matter until I find a buyer for this DDX814 first tho. I refuse to shell out another $1500 or so for another unit and have this current one collecting dust on my shelf beside

And which site would this be? I am still undecided on Kenwood/Pioneer but I'm interested in a good deal nonetheless.

hey Scott8659, where are you located? I am wondering if the US models might have more RDS functionality possibly. I am actually new to ipod (yeah I know...) and finding I use it more and more all the time. You are right, the Pioneer's ipod interface does seem alot nicer. I guess I am still torn a little bit. There is a large part of me that is loyal to Pioneer after many years of owning cd players of theirs. Up until i bought this Kenwood (and that was indeed difficult) I swore I would never buy a different brand of car stereo actually. I really want to hear what this thing sounds like with an

Yes, I did read that about the HD tuner. I don't think there is a way to get full RDS capability right now with Pioneer unless there is a way to get a Auro version but then you'd probably have issues with the nav tho. Probably would have only Euro maps and no North America. Maybe next year Pioneer will put the full RDS into their flagship? Hey Nerds 2 You, what do you have for a system in your car? ie. Do you have amps? after market speakers? Sub(s)?...I am curious.

Ok, I finally got to doa demo of these two units first hand although it wasn't exactly the way I wanted to do it. I wanted to demo these in the same dealer board with the same speaker amp setups. My installer happened to have the new Z110BT in his personal car (with only front speakers - albeit $1k Hertz comps and no amp) and the kenwood in his board. It did however give me alot of info that I feel might be beneficial to other potential buyers of either unit. First I will say that I currently own a Kenwood DDX814 so I know that one quite a bit better than the new Pioneer. The 9140 has nav and

Yes, the European version of this unit is a full RDS tuner version. I have looked at the manual from the Euro Pioneer site. It is substantially different than the Z110BT in this regard. Some people have said their's has RDS info but they all say that it is kind of crappy as it only produces 8 characters at a time on only one line. There are no other RDS functions like the Kenwood's have. It is also not the matter of the station not broadcasting RDS info either. I have an 814 (9140 with no nav basically) and I know which stations broadcast and what they broadcast. My Kenwood gives me all this i

I just came from my car stereo installer after looking closely at the 9140 and Z110BT and I will say that the Z110BT DID NOT have RDS at all. All it would give is the station ID tag and that's it. There is no RDS functionality at all. You can not do anything that you can with the FM tuner in the Kenwood. In the Kenwood, it gives artist, song name and any other info on separate lines. You can do searches by station genre type and it will even do traffic reporting via TMC. Those are RDS functions. Maybe Pioneer released two versions of the same deck? Some people say they are getting RDS info (ve

Now that is a unit I would love in my dash. I'm with ya, why can't they build a dvd nav system like that? I mean there isn't a manufacturer out there that has a unit with all those things. Actually, I don't think there is even a unit out there that will allow all of those things with add-ons even. Some of those things I could live without but there are alot of things here that I would like. This is probably why I am only looking at the the 9140 and the Z110BT. I just wish Kenwood would build their sub-preouts more like Pioneer does. I mean one should not have to use their Dolby settings to get

Hey lmclaurin777, did you get that video done? I would like to see what the HD radio function is like too.

Wow, that really is basic. I think I know what was happening with VBlue's now. As he was only on each station for only a second each or so, it probably wasn't enough time to scroll to each messege. I must say I don't think I like that kind of 'RDS'. It is not true RDS then really as it has none of the other features. On a true RDS tuner I think you can select to have each line of the text playing (at least the Kenwood's are like that). Also, you can do genre searches by station with RDS and I don't think that the Z110BT can do that from what I see. It will be interesting to test this out whene

Where are you VBlue? I am curious. I am in Calgary Alberta Canada and there are only a few that have RDS but it is Canada too. I thought virtually all US stations had RDS. I could be wrong tho - wouldn't be first time or last for that matter.

Hey garrettoomey. This is exactly what I have been waiting to hear from someone. Any chance of you making a video of it in action. If not maybe just a digital camera shot or two? I would be much appreciated. Is there a button that has to be activated for the RDS to work maybe? I am curious as VBlue's video didn't show much of anything for RDS. I wonder if there are a couple different display views or something.

To my knowledge HD Radio tuners always broadcast RDS info. It is a feature of the HD tuner not the Z110BT here. Now, the Z might have RDS but from VBlue's demo it does not or at least not fully. Now, there might be a button somewhere that turns it on. I hope to find out sometime next week. Someone's got to get one of these things in there board up here someday soon. I don't know if HD Radio would work here anyways as it is not available in Canada anyway. If it gives me the RDS function tho I might just have to get one for that if I do go the Z110BT way.

I guess I will just have to find out first hand I guess. I went to the European Pioneer website and looked at the manual posted for this version and it is quite a bit different when it comes to radio listening at least. It describes full RDS functionality. There is no mention of it in the North American version's manual at all. Also, the display that I saw in your vid was definitely different than what this picture appears to be showing. Now, maybe they did leave it out of the manual like some have indicated. Maybe you have to activate the RDS functionality in the radio functions menu or somet